Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of online shopping for consumers in Hong Kong.

680 Words2 Pages

In the past few years, a great deal of people created an online shop and exploit the online purchasing market in Hong Kong. Not only had some general residents do that, but also some large-scale chain stores, such as, IKEA and Sasa. These stores have also established their own online shopping system. In addition, the online shopping phenomenon has continuous increase. While some online shopping system’s users welcome this new technology that provides a convenient purchasing platform, others doubt the risks that follow to appear. This paper examines both the arguments for and against on consumers shopping online and provide suggestions based on these arguments.

A number of consumers strongly advocate the use of online shopping system brings convenient to purchase products. Fabiola (2006) notes that, “the Internet is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year”. As customers could surf the Internet every moment and everywhere, they could shop in the time which is the most suitable for them. Therefore, the development of online shopping system helps people who need to work until very late at night and when a large amount of shops are closed already. Besides, consumers are likely to buy products that are unsold in Hong Kong. Diamond and Pintel (2008) illustrate that due to buyers can surf some overseas stores website, they may gain those products’ information and buy them. Moreover, air transportation and transshipment are supporting logistics: products can be transport to Hong Kong from far away easily. Thus, Internet solve the limitations on shopping time and place, consumers might purchase more convenient.

The next argument in favor of online shopping is that consumers might enjoy a lower selling price. A recent survey conducted by Giu...

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